


I Think I Know You

by saiikavon



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Experimental Style, F/M, Gen, Introspection, Requited Unrequited Love, Self-imposed unrequited love I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:26:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29836683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiikavon/pseuds/saiikavon
Summary: Marinette knows her partner well...better than she's willing to admit.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	I Think I Know You

_I think I’ve seen you before._

When he gives her a playful wink before leaping off her balcony into the night, the gesture is familiar. There’s something about the jaunty tilt of his head and the easy curve of his lips that she knows but can’t place.

She thinks about how her Papa leans in when he winks at her, telling a secret, or how Nino and Alya share the same habit of pointing little finger guns at her as they wink at her in encouragement. Jagged Stone pulls up his sunglasses to give her a rock star wink and a thumbs up, making her giggle.

Her heart stops when Adrien shows her the lucky charm that she gave him, his locks bouncing as he winks with a jaunty tilt of his head. She calls it being in love, and stops thinking altogether.

***

_I think I’ve heard your voice somewhere._

He says ‘Milady’ with an easy, flowy air, but the way he says ‘Marinette’ is like a skip in his step, a pretty tune that he’d like to dance to. She thinks she knows the song, but the exact melody slips past her every time she tries to remember.

She thinks about how her mother’s voice almost cradles her name, like she still wants to take her daughter by the hand and walk her across the street. Chloe spits out her name like she doesn’t like the way it tastes, while Luka’s voice holds it and carries it like a gentle, calming river.

She feels butterflies in her stomach when Adrien says her name, quietly in the classroom or with an eager wave just outside the bakery, looking like he wants to start dancing. Her thoughts grow too full to think of melodies.

***

_I think I’ve felt the warmth of your arms before._

She trusts the way he holds her, like she’s precious but not fragile, cherished but not owned. She has but to ask and he will let her go wherever she wishes, but he will never drop her carelessly. She knows these arms well, and yet, their warmth feels like a dream that disappears each time she wakes.

She thinks about how Ivan is like a teddy bear, more to be squeezed than to squeeze, and how Mylene’s small arms are made to do just that. She thinks of how Rose throws her whole self into every hug she gives, filling everyone with love for at least a full hour after.

When they dance in the sky, Adrien holds her like a treasured gift, never to be discarded or taken for granted. She leans in close, his warmth like a dream and his heartbeat like a lullaby that she heard long ago.

***

_I think I chose you twice._

She knows he is hers the moment they meet, even having not handed over the box herself. It’s an instinct as much as a need, sitting like a little pearl in the center of her heart. It’s his baton that parries the blows that come at her back, his eyes that follow her as she chases down a plan, his spirit that calls to her to have faith, stand tall, be _miraculous_. That she can, that she _is_ , she owes it to him, and she will have no one else.

She chooses Alya because she trusts in her best friend, and Nino because she knows well his desire just to _help_. She chooses Chloe because she’s learned to believe in second chances, and Kagami because she’s learned that first impressions are not always correct.

Adrien is chosen almost blindly, a perfect picture misaligned with reality, but she is _sure_. She knows he belongs at her side from the moment she sees him, and gives him the box herself, knowing this is true. But Adrien is a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit where she’s placed him, and leaves a different spot achingly bare.

***

_I think you’re close, but…I can’t reach you._

She keeps him at a careful distance even before the broken moon and sorrowful blue eyes, but the nightmare forces her a step further. She makes herself look at the mask, even when all she wants is to see the boy behind it.

Even when he leaves her, leaves his ring behind, she can’t reach out.

She thinks of how something slips out of her grasp each time she’s around Adrien. Something she couldn’t say. A moment that passed them by. A name she couldn’t write. A note she’d mistaken for another. She comes the closest she’s ever been, a step away from baring her heart, and she has to withdraw like something’s come and bitten her. The pain is sharp, and the venom lingers. Maybe she wasn’t meant to reach him at all.

She stands and looks at him in the rain, at a careful distance, even as her eyes grow hot with tears. She thinks of the regret in his eyes as he gazes right back at her, and of the way his right hand seems strangely bare. She thinks of the way he’d say her name if he had the will to speak. She thinks of his heartbeat next to hers, and how her own beats for him, an instinct, a need. She has known for a long time, but has chosen to bury the feeling deep, deep down, where it couldn’t hurt them.

She wonders if would have hurt them either way, in the end.

***

_I think I know you…my Chat Noir._

**Author's Note:**

> Every now and then I like to experiment with styles based on my feelings.


End file.
